Dessert or a drawing whenever I have time…

Month: September 2017

I have been neglecting my blog for the past few months, but now that summer is over and life is slowly moving indoors I will make an effort to post more often.

I haven’t tried any new recipes for a while, but we have done a lot of baking over the summer. My husband and I are BIG fans of cheesecake. For a good month recently we made cheesecake almost every week. We stick to the classic recipe on the Philadelphia cream cheese package, and then I usually wing some sort of a topping. My favourite so far has been cranberry sauce (I had some left over in the freezer). It was absolutely perfect–the tartness of the cranberries complemented the cheese-y goodness of the cake perfectly. I also tried to make a quick blueberry topping–I simply simmered some frozen blueberries in sugar and a little water. Everyone liked it well enough, but I found it a little bland. If I try it again I’ll give it a go with some fresh blueberries instead.

Not the greatest photo, but it was late when we made the cheesecake, and it was half gone by morning so there was no opportunity to get a photo of the full cake in the light of day.

Mix graham crumbs and butter, and press onto the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. (I pre-butter the pan as well to ensure the cake doesn’t stick). Beat the cream cheese and sugar with a mixer until blended. Add the eggs and mix at low speed until just blended. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 F, until the centre is almost set. Once the cake has cooled refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. Add any toppings once the cake has been refrigerated.

The cranberry sauce was made using a slightly modified recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything:
4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 ½ cups sugar (I used only 1 cup)
2 cups water

Combine the cranberries, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool before refrigerating. I like to blend the sauce to make it smooth and remove all chunks.

The blueberry sauce was derived from the cranberry sauce recipe: I simply used four cups of blueberries instead of cranberries. However, I do feel that blueberries require more sugar, especially if you’re using frozen blueberries. In the future I would increase the amount to two cups of sugar…

For the last cheesecake I made a strawberry topping. Once again I just simmered some strawberries (freshly picked from a local farm!!) with some sugar, and then blended the mixture to make it smooth.